State lawmaker embraced, scorned

Texas Republicans welcomed the party switch of state Rep. J.M. Lozano, a first-term lawmaker from Kingsville, who signed up in December to run for re-election as a Democrat but flipped to the Republicans this week.

Rep. J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville

Democrats, as expected, excoriated the freshman lawmaker.

U.S. Senate candidate David Dewhurst said Republicans are delighted to have Lozano on their side.

“In Texas, Republicans have helped shepherd our state through tough times in order to create the best business climate in the nation, to pass landmark pro-family laws, and to help the men and women of Texas to create more jobs than any other state in America. We have another strong member joining our winning team, and I look forward to working with Rep. Lozano to build a better tomorrow for all Texans,” Dewhurst said in a statement.

Texas Republicans will formally embrace Lozano at their party headquarters later today.

Lozano represents the district that the late Irma Rangel represented when she became the fist Latina elected to the Texas Legislature in 1976.

“This party switch conveniently happened after a map made his district a hair more Republican. That’s political opportunism,” Texas Democratic Party spokesperson Anthony Gutierrez. Said. “If Lozano can’t be honest about the real reasons he’s switching parties, he could at least be honest about the priorities of the Party he’s joining.

“Between December, when Lozano filed to run in the Democratic primary and now, Republican presidential candidates have spewed some of the most anti-Latino rhetoric ever heard,” Gutierrez said. “This is reflected in the historically low poll numbers Republicans have among Latinos. Lozano’s embrace of that hostile rhetoric may get him some face-time with GOP celebrities but it also guarantees that he’ll never see another legislative session. No matter what he sold for to the GOP, we’re confident a Democrat will win that seat in November.”

The Texas Democratic Party produced the following video highlighting some of Lozano’s votes against the emergency priorities of Republicans. We predict these votes won’t fare well with Republican primary voters.

· A recent Fox News Latino poll shows that no Republican presidential contender has more than 14 percent support among Latinos.

· Among Latinos President Obama is polling 70-14 against Romney and 69-14 against Santorum.

About District 43

· In the 2008 election, seven Democrats won District 43 as newly configured